Yamato
Katana|閻魔刀|Enmatou}} reference "Enma-O", the Japanese name for the Hindu judge of the afterlife, "Yama", so that the Devil Arm's name is idiomatically read in the same manner as |大和}}, a Japanese term referring to the people and traditional nationalistic spirit of Japan. |japname = |jname1 = |type1 = Devil Arm |creator1 = Sparda |user1 = Vergil (Current) |user2 = Urizen |user3 = Nero |user4 = Dante |user5 = Sanctus |user6 = Sparda |form1 = Katana |drops from = |element1 = Dark-forged''Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, '''Combat Adjudicator — Yamato': "I am the combat adjudicator. Only a dark-forged blade can move me." |game1 = Devil May Cry |game2 = Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (SE) |game3 = Devil May Cry 4 (SE) |game4 = Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare |game5 = Devil May Cry 5 |game6 = Devil May Cry 5 – Visions of V – |game7 = Devil May Cry: Pinnacle of Combat }} The Yamato is Vergil's trademark dark-forged katana appearing in Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5. It is a legendary sword that was once wielded by his father Sparda,Devil May Cry, Devil Arms — 閻魔刀: Yamato: "It's the legendary sword wielded by Sparda. It is said that it has the will and the power to divide and wipe out the darkness." who originally created it alongside the and Rebellion when the Dark Knight split his power into three pieces, and was named by him to embody a "god of death".Devil May Cry 5, Documents — The Legend of Sparda: "'The Dark Knight Sparda split his power in three parts. One blade bore his own name; the second blade was named to embody retaliation; the final blade was named to embody a god of death.'" It was later left to Vergil as a keepsake. While the Rebellion can unify the human and demon halves of an individual, the Yamato can instead separate the two forces.Devil May Cry 5, Weapon Reports — Rebellion: "The sword left to Dante by his legendary demon daddy, the Dark Knight Sparda. I've been slacking off on my devil sword studies, so I can't say much, but it ain't no normal weapon, that's for sure. I mean, that Yamato sword you had ganked from you has the power to separate man from demon, right? I bet this sword has some crazy powers of its own, too. But as things stand, I can't quite figure out what they might be."Devil May Cry 5, Dante: "The demonic power was activated in my once when Vergil lovingly jammed this through my chest. I always wondered...Why did my father give me the Rebellion?" / "Over the years, I've been stabbed and jabbed by a number of things. But who would've ever guessed..." / "If the Yamato can separate man from devil...Then what about the Rebellion?" Description The Yamato is a katana; the exact details of how it looks change throughout the series. In the first Devil May Cry, the has the traditional gold wrapping, with black ornaments, and the is octagonal. In later installments, the guard is an oval, and the tsuka-ito seems to be braided from white and dark blue material. The blade features several intricate ornaments, most notable is a relief of a dragon at the endpoint of the hilt and with an ornate bronze guard with dragon motifs. The inside and back of Nero's Devil Bringer mimic the design of the blade's hilt. In Devil May Cry 5, the Yamato has been given an intricate renovation with a more aesthetically harmonic and flowing design down to nearly every part of the sword as according to Japanese sword crafting. The tsukamaki handle wrapping is more realistic, sporting a vaguely infinity symbol-like pattern, giving it the traditional diamond shape in the negative space. There is no longer a dragon on the pommel/''kashira'', and the rim fittings from throughout the sword are given flowing line patterns in gold on shakudo like black metal; rather, gold dragon styled menuki are subtly inserted underneath the tsukamaki to allow for the fingers to grip. The tsuba/hand guard is now gold and a deep navy patina blue, shaped like a hexagon with two trapezoidal halves, each with gold dot pattern patches and in a grove like motif with gold rings, inside of which are various circles in clusters of three, arranged in triangular patterns, and the gold habaki/fuller is also with a similar embossed pattern. The blade of the sword is now rendered to be fine enough to sport a temper line or a hamon, a line which runs across the edge angles of the sword and is believed to not only showcase the creator's signature attributes, but the individual "spirit" of the blade made; according to terminology, the hamon featured is a kawazuko choji or tadpole head clove flower styled hamon as similar to those found on blades historically treasured and made by Osafune Nagamitsu. The scabbard is black, made of traditional lacquered wood, and features several metallic ornaments on its far end. In Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4 it has a gold kurigata (absent in the manga). It also features a yellow sageo, the cord used to tie the katana to the waist. In Devil May Cry 5, the sageo is blue, with gold dot accents. In Devil Trigger, Vergil and Nero have different, but similar designs for the scabbard. For Vergil, it alters to appear similar to the sheath of a Kris, an Indonesian traditional dagger and is colored dark blue. It attaches to an additional appendage on his left arm, and it can adjust the position to allow Vergil to draw or sheathe his sword quicker and thus leaves Vergil's left hand free to wield the blade or other weapons. For Nero, the sheath appears to be more segmented, but it is otherwise identical. Despite having a scabbard, Yamato is only occasionally worn on the waist; Vergil and Dante carry it with their hands during battle (though Vergil has been shown to wear it on his waist when not in use), Nero absorbs the Yamato within his Devil Bringer, and Sparda used to strap it to his back when he was alive. Powers Yamato is far sharper than ordinary blades,Devil May Cry 3'' Code: 1 — Dante', '''Vergil's Weapons File — Yamato': "Sharper than a Japanese sword. It is his aesthetic that compels him to never use guns." and is imbued with tremendous demonic power.'''''Devil May Cry 4, Nero's Arms File — Yamato: "A sword imbued with tremendous magic, it unleashes the latent power within Nero." The sword is said to be able to cut through anything,Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Devil Arms File — Yamato: "A memento from Vergil’s father. This samurai-esque sword’s blade is said to cut through anything." even the very fabric of space itself. The only things capable of stopping Yamato's strikes are objects powered by demonic energy comparable to the user's, such as the Rebellion or individuals powered by the Sword of Sparda. However, when the user is weakened, the sword's ability to cut through most mundane objects fades. This was seen when Lady was able to block Yamato with Kalina Ann (a mundane rocket launcher with no demonic power) at the end of Mission 13. Vergil utilizes an ability called Judgement Cut in which he swings so fast that Yamato doesn't appear to even leave its sheath. It creates a distortion in space that engulfs his target which is sliced multiple times by the blade in very rapid succession. The ability is capable of hitting any enemies that are within the rather large distortion radius. Dante attempts to imitate this move in Devil May Cry 4 and the result is a similar ability called Slash Dimension but it lacks the precision and potency of Judgement Cut due to Dante's inexperience with wielding Yamato, unlike Vergil. Both abilities are able to strike far away opponents. Dante and Vergil demonstrate Yamato's ability to cut far away enemies with normal swings as well. Vergil, during Dante's battle with Arkham where Vergil appears and slices Arkham's handoff from atop a pillar a good distance away, and Dante, when he uses it to destroy the Hellgate with a single swing from a great distance away in Devil May Cry 4. Similar to Dante's Rebellion, the Yamato is able (to an extent) to bring out its wielder's true potential. This is shown in Devil May Cry 4 during Mission 7. As Nero was about to die as the hands of Agnus' Bianco Angelos, his Devil Bringer resonated with the broken Yamato and restored it, which was something not even Agnus could do. The sword awakened Nero's power, allowing him to access a Devil Trigger of his own. Similar to the Sword of Sparda before it, Yamato was used to seal a pathway to the Demon World—in this case, the Hell Gate on Fortuna. The gate is reopened by the Order of the Sword using Yamato but was later destroyed by Dante, who was using the same blade.Devil May Cry 4, Dante's Arms File — Yamato: "A katana used by Dante’s brother, it is both the key to opening the Hell Gates, and to their very destruction." In Devil May Cry 5, Vergil was able to use Yamato in a manner his father did to separate the Human World from the Demon World; but instead, he used it to separate his Demon-half resulting in the birth of Urizen and Human-half resulting in the birth of V in order to defeat Dante. As Urizen, Yamato transformed into a large human-sized crystalline structure that served as his shield, flying around to block attacks from any side. Story Yamato once belonged to Vergil's father, Sparda who split his immense power into it as well as Force Edge and Rebellion, and according to the Order of the Sword, it was used to seal the "true Hell Gate". It was eventually given to Vergil as a memento, and he used it as his primary weapon. Vergil uses Yamato as his primary weapon while he attempts to reactivate the Temen-ni-gru. When his attempts fails, Vergil falls into the Demon World with Yamato, where he is found by Mundus. Vergil attempts to defeat the demon king like his father, but is defeated and reborn as Nelo Angelo. Yamato was badly damaged and shattered by Mundus during or after his battle with Vergil. Before turning Vergil into his servant, the elder Son of Sparda lost his grip on Yamato's hilt and the sword was lost to him afterwards. At some later point, Yamato was found by the Order of the Sword - albeit in its shattered state. It was kept in Agnus's Containment Room within Fortuna Castle but is restored and taken by Nero when his dormant powers as an heir to Sparda emerge. From then on, Nero is able to use the sword while in Devil Trigger. Dante attempts to reclaim the Yamato from Nero, stating that such a powerful weapon had to "stay in the family", but let Nero hold onto it as he went off to save his beloved Kyrie. However, it is taken back from him by Sanctus when he is absorbed into the Savior and is then used by Agnus to reopen the Hell Gate. After slaying Agnus, Dante retrieves Yamato from the gate seal and uses it to destroy the gate, after which he wields it while in his Dark Slayer Style. While fighting the Savior, Dante uses the blade to free Nero and sends it back to him so that the youth can finish the fight against Sanctus. After the battle, Dante charges Nero with keeping it, having realized the boy to be his brother's son after seeing its reaction to him in their second fight, though he would not reveal this to Nero until some time later. One of Yamato's shards was found by the fire demon Balrog, who used it to escape the Fire Hell realm of the Demon World, with this shard being destroyed during Balrog's battle with Dante. Yamato would remain in Nero's possession for an untold period, remaining in his Devil Bringer arm as the young hunter continued his career in hunting demons. Unfortunately, Nero would lose possession of Yamato after getting ambushed by Vergil, effortlessly ripping the Devil Bringer from Nero and reclaiming his lost sword. When he became Urizen, the Demon King used the Yamato to open a massive portal to the Demon World in Red Grave City so that he could summon the demonic tree Qliphoth. In battles with Urizen, the Yamato took on the form of a reddish-orange crystal that prevented any attacks from reaching him. When the Qliphoth fully revealed itself, he calls the shield away, briefly reverting back into its original form for only a second before vanishing. After reforming, Vergil would then use the Yamato to battle both Dante and Nero before descending into Hell to cut the roots of the Qliphoth tree and seal the portal to the Underworld opened by Urizen. Gameplay Although Yamato is said to be able to cut through anything, this aspect does not carry through to gameplay for obvious reasons. Enemies with shields, such as Dullahans, are still invulnerable, and background objects are not affected. Dark Slayer Style Yamato is intimately linked to Vergil's signature Dark Slayer Style, which he uses in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition and which Dante homages in Devil May Cry 4. As a warrior fallen from grace, Vergil can use the power of darkness to obtain new weapons and skills by leveling the style,Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Style File — Dark Slayer: "A warrior fallen from grace. The power of darkness gives birth to new weapons and skills." and it interacts with his Yamato, Summoned Swords, , and Force Edge. The style itself performs much like Dante's Trickster Style.Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Customize — Style: "Allows player to avoid enemy attacks using special evasive movements." In Devil May Cry 4, Dante obtains this style after receiving Yamato, but instead of being based on teleportation, it allows Dante to imitate Vergil's skills with Yamato. ''Devil May Cry'' In Devil May Cry, Yamato is only used for Dante's "Legendary Dark Knight" costume. It behaves exactly the same as the Alastor, even to the point that Sparda carries it on his back when not in use and wields it as a broadsword rather than using the Iaido technique, but has a slightly shorter reach. When Sparda enters Devil Trigger, Yamato transforms into the Sparda sword. ''Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening'' Vergil is the only character to use Yamato in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition. When Vergil fights with Yamato, he uses both the scabbard and the blade in the Iaido style. When the Force Edge is equipped, Vergil fights with the Force Edge in place of the Yamato's scabbard. For Vergil's "Corrupt Vergil" or "Super Corrupt Vergil" costumes, Yamato transforms into Nelo Angelo's zweihänder when in Devil Trigger. ''Devil May Cry 4'' Both Dante and Nero wield Yamato in Devil May Cry 4. Nero's use of Yamato is limited to when he is in Devil Trigger, and even then he only has a few attacks with it. While in Devil Trigger, Yamato also grants Nero the ability to use a slightly different version of Summoned Swords. In contrast to Vergil and Dante's use of the Iaido technique, Nero wields Yamato without its scabbard. When Dante obtains Yamato, he gains access to Vergil's signature Dark Slayer Style, but Dante doesn't have that many attacks with it. In the Special Edition of Devil May Cry 4, Vergil wields Yamato once more, and has by far the most extensive and relentless arsenal of moves, incorporating both sword and scabbard in a refinement of the Dark Slayer style, including his infamous Judgement Cut. Moveset Devil May Cry= |-| Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition= It is worth noting, that after executing Yamato Combo, Upper Slash or Force Edge Combo, if Vergil is able to successfully complete the sheathing animation, he will gain a Devil Trigger Orb and a small increase to Style points as well. Also, performing a taunt with Yamato equipped, while there are enemies around, will cause Vergil to emit a black aura after a few seconds, that will replenish his Devil Trigger gauge on its own, as long as he is unharmed and stays in the taunting stance. |-| Devil May Cry 4= class="wikitable" - bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Action ! Command ! Description - Devil Trigger / Summon the power of Yamato to unleash the devil within Nero. Depletes the D.T. Gauge. - Summoned Swords / (Devil Trigger) Summon a magical blade and fling it towards a foe, piercing the enemy through sheer force of will. - Maximum Bet + + + / + + + (Devil Trigger) Yamato and the Red Queen combine to blow through enemies like a powerful wind. Holding, then releasing the buttons will dramatically increase attack strength. - Showdown + + + / + + + (Devil Trigger) Nero himself unleashes Yamato with an omnipotent barrage of slashes. - Trigger Heart Passive While Devil Trigger is active, the depletion of the D.T. Gauge will be reduced. } - Dante= class="wikitable" - bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Action ! Command ! Description - Yamato Combo S , , / , , Execute the standard 3-hit combo used by Vergil. - Aerial Rave V , / , (midair) Execute aerial 2-hit combo used by Vergil. - Slash Dimension F (Far) + + / + + Dante will slash at a blinding speed while pillars of light will come out and break, damaging anything caught within the radius (long ranged) - Slash Dimension C (Close) + + / + + Dante will slash at a blinding speed while pillars of light will come out and break, damaging anything caught within the radius (Short ranged) } - Vergil (Special Edition)= class="wikitable" - bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Action ! Command ! Description - , , , / , , , Four hit Yamato combo used by Vergil - , , — , / , , — , Send an enemy flying, then follow-up a Summoned Sword attack. - , — rapidly / , , , — rapidly Annihilate your enemy with a countless number of slashes. - Aerial Rave A , , / , , (mid-air) A multiple sword strike combo that deals devastating damage to airborne enemies. - , ,—, , / , ,—, , (mid-air) Carve up an enemy with a spinning slash, then send them crashing down. - Upper Slash + + / + + Launch enemies into the air with an upward strike from Yamato. - + + hold / + + hold After launching the enemy, hold down / to follow them up into the air. - + + / + + Dash forward, relentlessly slashing everything in your path. - Rising Star Hold / after Rapid Slash, A spiral cut that lifts both you and your opponent into the air. - + / Slash your enemies to shreds with super speed. Can only be done while in Devil Trigger with maximum concentration. } }} Background The Yamato's Japanese name is written as Katana"|閻魔刀|Enma-tou}}, referring to the Japanese name for the Hindu and Buddhist judge of the afterlife, " ". This means that the Devil Arm's name can be idiomatically read as "Yamatō". The term "|大和}} itself is a Japanese term originally used to refer to the of Japan. It was eventually extended to the entire nation of Japan, and is now used to refer to the unified people and traditional nationalistic spirit of Japan. As such, it symbolizes Vergil's aesthetic and commitment to tradition and his supernatural heritage, to complement Dante's retaliatory attitude symbolized by the Rebellion. In keeping with Nero's theme of attacks being named with gambling terminology, his Devil Trigger attacks performed with the Yamato, "Maximum Bet" and "Showdown", are also gambling terms. See also *Summoned Swords Notes and references Category:Devil Arms Category:Weapons Category:Devil May Cry Category:Devil May Cry weapons Category:Devil May Cry 3 Category:Devil May Cry 3 weapons Category:Devil May Cry 4 Category:Devil May Cry 4 weapons Category:Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare Category:Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare weapons Category:Devil May Cry 5 Category:Devil May Cry 5 weapons